Although Barton Geddes is an American, the actor who plays him, Scott Adkins, is British. He is Ip Man’s final foe. What’s ironic about Geddes is that before his fights with Ip Man & Master Wan is that he says “No rules.
By the time of their matchup, Geddes proved himself to be an effective fighter by taking down Zhong-Hua, who kept Ip at a standstill. At the same time, Ip was nowhere near his top form by this film, clearly suffering from the effects of throat cancer and old age.
Gunnery Sergeant Barton Geddes is the main antagonist of Ip Man 4: The Finale and the final antagonist of the Ip Man film series. He is a jingoistic Gunnery Sergeant of the US Marines Corps, serving as the commanding officer of a military base in San Francisco. He was portrayed by Scott Adkins .
Many scenes and facts were manufactured for the cinematic Ip Man legend, including that awesome fight where Ip Man took on 10 Japanese black belts in Karate. Ip Man also never fought a Japanese general. In real life, he also worked as a police man before leaving Foshan.
Why does Ip Man fight a U.S. Marines sergeant in ‘Ip Man: The Finale’?
In Ip Man: The Finale, Ip travels to San Francisco with his son and wrestles with tension between martial arts masters and his star student, Bruce Lee (Danny Kwok-Kwan Chan).
At the Mid-Autumn festival, where Wan and Ip’s fight is set to resume, we learn that Wan has been arrested by Becky’s dad, an immigration officer. Barton instructs the Marines’ karate instructor to take on the Grandmasters at the festival, but Ip intervenes and beats him, sending him to the hospital.
Ip discovers that he needs a referral letter from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in order to enroll into an American school, but Grandmaster Wan Zhong-hua (Yue Wu) refuses to write the letter because Ip is unbothered by Bruce’s actions, whereas the other Grandmasters are vehemently opposed to him opening a Wing Chun school.
What’s more, while the film portrays Ip’s son, Ip Ching, as a rebellious teenager who traveled with his father, in reality, Ip Ching grew up far away from Ip Man in mainland China and was a grown man before he reunited with his father in Hong Kong.
While the events of Ip Man: The Finale are riveting and compelling, the real Ip Man never met a single American in his lifetime, with the exception of Bruce Lee, who was American born. He never stepped foot in the United States.
Who was the first person to fight Ip Man 4?
Wan Zhong-Hua (Ip Man 4) Grandmaster Wan Zhong-Hua (Wu Yue) was the first opponent to take on Ip during his fourth film, with the two closing out the fight in an impressive one-handed Tai Chi versus Wing Chun showdown. The choreography in this sequence is majestic, as both opponents push their fighting skills beyond conflict into an art form.
Although General Miura (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi) was the final opponent in the first Ip Man, it’s easy to see why his colonel had to threaten the martial arts master. It’s almost unfair to call this showdown a fight, as Miura was virtually defenseless against Ip’s multitude of strikes.
By the time of their matchup, Geddes proved himself to be an effective fighter by taking down Zhong-Hua, who kept Ip at a standstill. At the same time, Ip was nowhere near his top form by this film, clearly suffering from the effects of throat cancer and old age.
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To make matters worse, The Twister was also larger than Ip, giving him a better reach and a significant physical advantages as a boxer. These factors nearly rigged the fight in the Twister’s favor, but Ip still proved himself to be the better fighter, cementing the fact that style doesn’t matter.
The final match between Ip and Taylor “The Twister” Miller (Darren Shahlavi) in Ip Man 2 was loaded with handicaps against the Wing Chun master, who was forced to stop using his legs in the final round.
Ip Man 2 ‘s showdown between Hung Chun-nam (Sammo Hung) and Ip on a rotating table is another iconic moment from the series, complete with stunning cinematography and impressive footwork. Ip’s takedown of all of the Hong Kong masters was already impressive on its own, but his fight with Chun-nam pitted him against an opponent who was almost his equal. While Chun-nam was an expert Hung Ga master, he suffered from asthma, which led to his eventual death at the hands of Taylor “The Twister” Miller. It’s interesting to think about what would’ve happened if both masters duked it out in their prime.
Frank (Ip Man 3) Although Frank’s (Mike Tyson) showdown was one of the more ridiculous fights in Ip Man 3, it was also one of Ip’s most difficult. It’s amazing to see how Ip was able to avoid and counter Frank’s massive blows, despite the American business man’s age.
How does Ip fight Geddes?
Ip takes Geddes’ saying that the battle would contain “no rules” and eventually defeats Geddes by kicking his groin twice, striking his neck along with breaking one of Geddes’ arms.
Wan was seriously injured from the fight with Geddes. Ip Man is then brought into the Marines’ camp by Hartman, where he battles Geddes. Geddes says that the fight wouldn’t contain any rules and that they brawl until one of them cannot battle anymore. So, Ip and him fight.
Geddes tells Frater what Hartman did and commands him to challenge the grandmasters at the Festival. Colin does so, defeating Masters Law, Chiu and Chiang. Suddenly, Ip Man interferes and defeats him badly. Meanwhile, Wan, who was supposed to be present at the festival, is arrested by the immigration officers. Upon seeing Colin being unable to battle & laying in the Marine Corps hospital bed, Geddes barges into the Association to find out where Wan is kept and defeats everyone there. He then threatens Walters to release Wan into the Marines’ custody before bringing Wan into the camp to fight him. Due to a tip-off by a student of Lee, the Association is left empty by the time the immigration officers raid the place. Lee provides refuge for the Association, earning their respect.
A ruthless and extremely xenophobic drill instructor, Geddes wanted to discourage Chinese martial arts by being openly racist toward Chinese-Americans and using his powerful combat skills to show off his superiority. He is personally convinced that karate is the only superior form of martial arts and sought to go through any …
Afterwards, Geddes grabs his own neck with his remaining hand & collapses on the floor all the while he coughs because of his injuries. Afterward, Hartman instructs that Geddes is to be taken to sick bay and two cadets named Harris & Johnson get him there; while the audience applauds Ip for defeating Geddes.
Geddes eventually became the ringleader of a conspiracy to let the INS to forcefully deport numerous CCBA members by using his powerful karate skills and his belief in racial inferiority to justify his actions.
Geddes is extremely patriotic, but this is overshadowed by his bigotry and xenophobic behavior toward non-White people. He encourages white supremacy and is generally disrespectful and racist toward Chinese-Americans, cruelly taunting and humiliating them at every chance he gets, even towards children.
